What's Best
by SkyClimber
Summary: Another tribe of Vikings decides to pay Berk a visit, and this proves to be a problem when something happens to Astrid. And then Hiccup takes some advice from Stoick that leads to even more trouble... /HiccupxAstrid/
1. Chapter One

**A/N: Okay, so this is my first HTTYD story that I think is actually worth posting online. I've been working on just this first chapter for that past couple days, even though it's not all that long. I apologize for that now, lol. So, I hope you enjoy! ^^ Oh, and there will be some OCs in this story, but not very many, and there are NO OC/canon relationships. I'm not into those at, like, all.**

_**Disclaimer: **_**How to Train Your Dragon_ belongs to DreamWorks animation and Cressida Cowell. Any and all original characters that appear in this story do belong to me._**

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**Chapter One**

"Ouch!" Hiccup swung his hand up and down rapidly until the small sting of pain disappeared. He blew one quick breath on his hand where the spark had landed, and then got back to sharpening the large sword he held in his hands. Gobber probably wouldn't even feel it if a spark landed on his skin, as thick as he was. Hiccup wished he wouldn't feel it if something as annoying as a spark landed on him.

"After you're done with that sword, Hiccup, you can go off and be done," Gobber told him as he walked by, carrying several axe heads in his arms. "Whoa, whoa, whoa-!" Hiccup dropped the sword and ran to Gobber's side, quickly grabbing two of the axe heads that were about to crash to the floor. Gobber let out a thankful sigh. "Thanks, Hiccup."

"No problem… Gobber," Hiccup responded, straining a little under the weight of the two axe heads in his arms. He followed the older Viking to a table nearby and disposed of the axe heads on top of it, stretching his arms in wide circles afterwards.

"Crap." Hiccup slapped his hand to his forehead. "I dropped that sword I was sharpening. I really hope I didn't chip it or anything…" He started back over to the emery wheel and knelt down to pick the sword he had dropped back up. He scanned the blade, sighing in relief when he saw no chips or cracks in the metal. He continued sharpening it, but gasped in horror when, only after a second, a chip of the metal broke away.

"Hiccup…?" Gobber called when he heard the gasp.

"That's just great," Hiccup muttered as he observed the damage. "Fantastic. I probably should have seen that coming." He began moving over to a counter along one of the walls of the blacksmith's hut, kneeling down to look in one of the bottom cubbies. He pulled another, long blade out and compared the length of it to the chipped blade, deciding that it was close enough.

"Hiccup, what happened?" Gobber asked, hobbling over to the chief's son as he was removing the chipped blade.

"I chipped the Thor-forsaken blade," Hiccup responded angrily, grabbing the new blade and pushing himself back to his feet.

"Oh." Gobber followed Hiccup over to another table, where Hiccup placed the new blade and the hilt of the sword. He walked back over to the counter and grabbed one strip of leather about a foot long and an inch wide off the top of the counter. He held it out in front of himself, observed it, and nodded once before grabbing a blowtorch off the counter and turning to walk back over to the table where Gobber was looking at the blade and the hilt.

"I hate chipping anything, but my dad's sword? Really?" Hiccup asked, placing the strip of leather on the table as well. Gobber chuckled, patting Hiccup lightly on the back.

"It's an easy fix, you know it," he told him.

"But it's my _dad's_," Hiccup complained. "He'll notice the difference in blades."

"I'm sure he won't mind if you explain to him what happened. Now get it done, and you're outta here for the day. Enjoy the sunshine while it lasts." He walked away chuckling, leaving Hiccup to scowl at the separated blade and hilt before him.

He took the blade carefully in his hands and positing it on the table so that the end that would be connected to the hilt was sticking off the side of the table. He pulled a small stool over to sit down on as he took the hilt in his hand. He very carefully moved the hilt against the end of the blade, making sure the blade made it inside the hilt correctly. He listened intently until he heard the end of the blade _thunk_ against the inside of the hilt, meaning that it was all the way in. He took the blowtorch that he had set on the ground next to him and carefully molded the blade to the outside of the hilt, and made sure it was secure by swinging the blade around a few times. He dipped it in water briefly, and then walked back over to the table to wrap the leather strip around where the blade and hilt connected.

"Ow! Gods!" Hiccup set the sword on the table and put his right hand in his mouth. He squeezed his eyes shut as the taste of blood invaded his mouth. He brought his hand back out of his mouth and opened his eyes to observe the damage, and immediately returned his hand to his mouth when blood instantly started oozing from the wound again. He silently cursed as he hurried over to retrieve a rag from his workspace.

"This just isn't your day, is it?" Gobber chuckled as Hiccup rushed past him. Hiccup brushed past the curtain into the back room of the shop where all of his blueprints and research were. He grabbed the white cloth lying on the table, brought his hand back out of his mouth, and quickly began wrapping the cloth around his hand. The cloth wasn't too thick, but Hiccup knew that it would have to do until he could get a better one back at his house.

He wasn't having the best of days in the blacksmith's shop, he concluded, as he raced back out into the main room. Gobber was switching out his axe for his hammer on his left arm as Hiccup ran past him. The young Viking finished wrapping the leather strip around the sword, tying it off as tightly as he possibly could, and swung it around a few times again to make sure it was fine for use. He let out a tired sigh as he leaned the sword against the side of the table, and yelped when he saw that his blood had already almost soaked all the way through the cloth.

"See you Gobber!" he yelled as he untied the back of his apron, slipping it over his head. He quickly switched his vest with his apron on the nail near the door, sliding his arms through the armholes.

"Wash that cut out!" Gobber called to him as he ran from the building. Hiccup ran as fast as he could through the village, not bothering to reply to Gobber's suggestion. He kept his eyes forward, pressing his left hand down on top of the bloodied cloth on his right. He barely acknowledged anybody who greeted him as he passed, but knew that no one minded either way.

"Hey, Hiccup!" Hiccup skidded to a quick stop when his name was called out. He would have kept running if he didn't recognize the voice. He turned around to see Astrid exiting her house, which he had been just running past. He put on a smile as she approached him.

"Hey," he repeated, trying to inconspicuously hide his injured hand inside his vest. Astrid gave him a heartwarming smile.

"Gobber let you loose?" she asked. Hiccup smirked.

"Yeah, I guess you could put it that way." Astrid grinned wider and reached for his revealed hand. Hiccup took a step further, grabbing her hand and pulling her in to lay his lips softly on hers. Neither of them were big on public displays of affection, but every now and then, the village would be treated to the two of them showing some sort of affection towards each other.

Without thinking, Hiccup removed his wounded hand from his vest and slid it into her other hand when they separated only a second later. Astrid immediately felt the cloth on her skin, and looked down to see the white cloth wrapped around Hiccup's hand.

"Um… what's up with that?" she questioned, pointing with her eyes. Hiccup looked down at their intertwined hands.

"Oh!" he gasped, ripping his hand out of hers. "It's, um, it's nothing. Just a little cut. I was actually on my way back up to my house to get something better to wrap around it…" Astrid squeezed the uninjured hand, which was still in her grasp, and began leading Hiccup up towards his own house.

"You should have told me!" she said to him as they walked. "That stupid rag you have on now is probably completely soaked through." Hiccup sighed.

"Yeah, it probably is."

They reached his house a minute later, and Astrid pushed the door gently open. A fire was crackling in the middle of the room, a couple of fish hanging by a wire above it. Toothless, who was lying on the floor by the fire, raised his head and looked at the two teenagers as they entered the room. Hiccup gave him a small grin.

"Hey bud," he mumbled. Toothless sniffed the air, and wrinkled his nose when he was able to smell the blood still seeping from the wound on Hiccup's palm. The dragon put his head back down and covered his snout with his two front feet, closing his large green eyes. Hiccup rolled his eyes and Astrid continued to lead him across the room.

"Sit," she ordered. Hiccup sat down on the side of the bed while Astrid turned and headed for the stairs on the side of the room. She quickly began climbing up them, and Hiccup didn't stop her; she had been upstairs in his house lots of times.

Toothless opened one of his eyes and looked over at Hiccup. Hiccup waved at the Night Fury, and Toothless closed his eye again. Hiccup looked over at his hand and saw that he waved with his injured one. He rolled his eyes, smirking at his dragon.

Astrid came back down the stairs then, carrying two other white rags. She walked over to Hiccup, placing the cloths on the bed beside him. She carefully began unwinding the bloodied cloth from his hand, cringing when the scratch came into view. Blood was smeared all over his palm and was still slowly oozing from the wound. She turned and threw the dirty cloth into the fire, which made the flames grow bigger for a second as they licked away the fabric. A slight scent of blood wafted around the room, making Hiccup and Astrid both wrinkle their own noses.

"Great," Astrid muttered, walking over to the windows. She shoved the shutters open, welcoming the cool, clean breeze when it blew into her face. She opened the neighboring window as well, and then walked back over to Hiccup.

"You could have just cleaned that rag, you know," Hiccup told her as she picked up the new cloth. She dabbed it lightly on the wound, and Hiccup realized that she had gotten it wet upstairs. She slowly and carefully began wiping the blood away, and when she was satisfied, she grabbed the other cloth she had brought down and began wrapping it around the wound.

"You didn't have to come help me with this, you know," Hiccup said softly as she tied the cloth off. She looked up into his green eyes.

"I wanted to," she replied. "I like knowing that I did something to help you feel better, even slightly." Hiccup smiled and pulled her onto the bed beside him. They sat there, staring at the fire, and Hiccup's arm wound around Astrid's waist.

"So… What are your plans for the day?" he asked her after a moment of silence.

"I don't have any," Astrid answered, reaching up to tuck her hair behind her ear. "I was hoping that you'd be open for hanging out."

"Well, I think I am…"

Right as Hiccup was leaning in, the door slammed open. Both teenagers jumped, and Hiccup took his arm away from Astrid's waist.

"Dad!" he yelled, clutching at his chest. "Don't… _do_ that!" Stoick chuckled at first, but then became awfully serious. He crossed the room quickly, stepping carefully around Toothless, who was now sitting up.

"Sorry, sorry… I saw Gobber out in the village and knew that he must have let you go for the day. I have something I need to talk to you about." Hiccup raised his eyebrows.

"Okay then… talk." Stoick groaned.

"Privately, son. I'm sorry, Astrid…"

"No, no, it's fine," Astrid said, pushing herself to her feet. "I was actually just about to leave anyway. I'll see you later, 'k Hiccup?"

"Sounds good," Hiccup responded. Astrid gave him a small grin and then exited the house. Hiccup groaned at his dad and turned himself to lie down on the bed. He stared up at the ceiling. "Okay… so we're in private now. What's so important?" Stoick sighed, pulling over a stool that sat around the fire. He looked at his son for a short moment before beginning.

"Well… the tribe of Vikings from Lakota is coming for a little visit because they've received news of our new alliance with the dragons." Hiccup immediately perked up, much more interested in what his father had to tell him. "They're setting out this evening, sailing all through the night, and should be here sometimes tomorrow afternoon. You and I will meet the chief and his family as they exit their boat, as is the right thing for the chief family to do to a visiting chief family."

"I know, Dad. Other tribes have visited us before," Hiccup told him.

"I know, I know. I'm just letting you know. Anyway… they'll have tomorrow night to get settled in, and then the following evening we will hold a welcome feast for them. And you are to dance with his daughter."

"How do you know he has a daughter?"

"Because I've met them before. I go on visiting trips all the time, Hiccup. Anyway, as I was saying… You'll dance with her, maybe get to know her a bit, and… maybe, try to become attracted to her…" Hiccup shot straight up, his eyes wide. He turned his head to face his father, whose eyes were also wide.

"…what?" Hiccup whispered.

"Now son, it would be a great thing for both our tribes if you and Ragnar's daughter were to connect and then someday get married. It'd combine our tribes and… it would just be a great thing for all of us!"

"Not. Gonna'. Happen."

"Hiccup, just think it through. You know where I'm coming from. I'm not thinking of myself or of you; I'm thinking of the tribe. This would be very good for us! The tribe of Lakota has supplies that we don't, and very good hunters. We'd be able to catch food for the winter much easier."

"Dad, I'm not going to just randomly fall in love with a girl I've never met," Hiccup pressed. "Besides, you know how I feel about Astrid…"

"You need to start thinking more about your people than of yourself, son," Stoick said. "You're going to be chief someday, and that is a trait you will need to possess."

"And I will… with Astrid at my side. Not some Lakota Viking."

"I see where you're coming from, son, but you can also see where I'm coming from. You know that this would be good for both tribes, but you're so blinded by your own wants and needs, that you're not willing to help the rest of your people. If our two tribes combine, Hiccup, we'll lose less people when the winter sickness season sets in. We'll have more medics and more herbs and medicines. You _know_ that this would be a good thing!"

"Doesn't mean it's going to happen!" Hiccup was off the bed by now, crossing the room towards the front door. Stoick was standing by the bed.

"So you're choosing yourself over the tribe? If you do that when you're chief, Hiccup, this entire village will die." Hiccup's hand hesitated on the doorknob as his father said this. Toothless walked over and nudged Hiccup gently on his shoulder. Hiccup looked back at the dragon's wide green eyes, and then back at his father.

"Not gonna' happen," he repeated flatly, pulling the door open. He exited the house, Toothless on his heel, as Stoick sat back down on the stool and put his face in his hand.

Hiccup's one and only destination was Astrid's house, and he walked there with his brows furrowed, his mouth turned down in a scowl. Toothless nudged his elbow as they walked, asking silently to go flying. Hiccup merely shook his head and continued walking. Toothless fell behind, eventually turning back around to go back up to Hiccup's house. Hiccup didn't even notice.

He wasn't having the best of days, period, he concluded.

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**A/N: I'm a bit worried about the characters seeming a bit OOC... but at the same time, I feel kinda proud of myself for getting them IN character. Lol. Please, please, please, review, letting me know what you think. Reviews will keep me writing, no joke. They help me with inspiration. ^^ Thanks, guys! I'll have chapter two up as soon as I can!**

**(( Claire ))**


	2. Chapter Two

**A/N: Sorry for taking a while to update with chapter two. The last couple weeks of school before winter break kept me a bit busy, lol. But break is finally here and I am so happy! Updates should be a bit more frequent over break, until school starts back up in a couple weeks. XP**

**Anyway... here's chapter two! Hope you like!**

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**Chapter Two**

His fist pounded against the wooden door three times. He waited while nothing seemed to happen, folding his arms across his chest. His foot began involuntarily tapping against the ground as he waited, his eyes locked on the solid oak in front of him. Just when he raised his fist to knock again, the door open inwards, revealing the one face that he was waiting to see. Her eyebrows rose when she saw who was at her door.

"Hiccup," she said, surprise in her voice. "I thought your father was talking to you."

Without an invitation, Hiccup gently brushed past her and into her home, taking a slow breath in through his nose. He exhaled it through his mouth as Astrid closed her front door.

"I was," he replied when they were facing each other in the house's entrance hall. "But what he said… You wouldn't believe what he said to me, Astrid." He couldn't stop himself from shaking his head and looking down at the floor.

"Am I even allowed to know?" she questioned. "Your father seemed pretty serious on the whole 'private' thing."

"Only half of it was supposed to be kept private, and even that part was only supposed to be kept private from you." Astrid's eyes widened in shock and her head cocked slightly to the side. "I'm sure that if it had been Gobber in the house with me and not you, my dad wouldn't have cared. Gobber would have been on my dad's side about the matter anyway."

"Hiccup, what _are_ you talking about?"

He took another inhalation through his nose and exhalation through his mouth. Pinching the bridge of his nose, he closed his eyes in frustration. "He wants me to marry Lakota's chief's daughter." What he said was barely audible as he whispered it through unmoving lips, but Astrid heard the words "marry" and "chief's" and "daughter" clearly, which automatically meant that Stoick didn't want his son romantically involved with her.

"…well, it's nice to know that the chief doesn't like me," she muttered, walking towards the stairs. Hiccup caught her arm and spun her back around to face him.

"What are you talking about?" he asked.

"If he wants you to marry some other girl, then he obviously doesn't like me. Or, well, the idea of you and me together, which is almost worse."

Hiccup shook his head. "No, no, my father sure as hell likes you. I mean, look back at your success in dragon training! And your mother is one of my father's closest friends. He just wants me to marry this other girl because it would bring good to both our tribes, not because he doesn't like you."

Astrid processed this for a moment. She admitted to herself that it would be strange for Stoick not to like her. She used to be the receiver of most of Stoick's praise when Berk still hunted and killed dragons, and Hiccup was right about her mother being close to Stoick. Besides Snotlout's father, Spitelout, Higrid was Stoick's closest companion and always accompanied him on hunts.

But she still found it strange that Stoick would suddenly lay all of this on Hiccup's shoulders. The boy had no idea what this chief's daughter was even like; he didn't even know her name or what she looked like. Astrid got where Stoick was coming from about the good coming to both tribes, but… Hiccup was only sixteen! She was aware that sixteen was the official age in which a Viking could marry, but would Stoick really expect his only son to commit eternally to someone at such a young age?

"…can't believe he would expect this of me," Hiccup was muttering, breaking Astrid out of her thoughts. She noticed he was pacing back and forth in front of her now, pinching the bridge of his nose, his eyes closed. He was muttering something inaudible under his breath, though Astrid guessed it was something about his father.

And as she looked at him pacing back and forth, she suddenly caught a glimpse of his father. She'd seen Stoick do the exact same thing before when he was puzzled about something, and Hiccup was mimicking him almost exactly. And with that one little vision, she grabbed Hiccup's arm, pulled him towards her, and crushed her lips to his. His eyes were wide with surprise, and before he had a chance to even react, Astrid's mouth was away from his.

"You need to do this," she whispered to him, looking up into his eyes through her lashes; he had grown noticeably since the defeat of the Red Death.

His eyes widened, staring straight down into hers. "What are you talking about?"

She took his hands tenderly in her own, flipping her bangs to the side with a quick swing of her head. "This girl your father wants you to marry… she's the chief's daughter of another tribe of Vikings. I'm just… I'm just another Viking in our village. If we were ever to get married – and I'm not saying that we would, though I'm not saying I wouldn't want to…" She cleared her throat. "If we were ever to get married, it wouldn't do anything for our tribes."

"Why does that matter?" Hiccup inquired, his eyebrows rising.

"You're the chief's son. You have a duty to your tribe, and you have to admit that this would be good for us and for Lakota. I can marry any guy and not have it mean anything for the tribe."

"Astrid…"

"Hiccup, listen to what I'm saying."

"I'm doing my best not to, don't try to stop me now." Astrid couldn't help the small smirk from forming on her face.

"Just… promise me you'll think about this? I'm not trying to be as melodramatic as I think I'm turning out to be, but this is a matter that you can't simply dismiss." Hiccup sighed, placing his bandaged hand on top of their other entwined hands.

"Only because you want me to. But Astrid… I don't want to be chief of this village without _you_ at my side."

"And you think I want to see you ruling our tribe with some other girl as your wife?" Hiccup chuckled quietly.

"You never do know with you," he whispered. A grin came across Astrid's lips.

"Well I don't," she whispered back. "But what I do want is our tribe to live on for a long time. And that will more likely happen if you do what your father has said." Hiccup let a sigh slip past his lips, and Astrid felt it against her forehead.

"I said I'd think about it. That's all you're getting from me on the subject." Astrid rolled her eyes.

"As long as you actually do that," she told him, smirking again. Without a reply, Hiccup pulled her lips to his once again, only to pull away when a call echoed through the house.

"Astrid! Your Nadder is eating the carrots again! Come take care of it!" Hiccup recognized Higrid's voice instantly, smirking without opening his eyes. Astrid, on the other hand, groaned.

"Coming!" she called. "Dammit, Anya, why do you have to continue doing that?" She quickly gave Hiccup a peck on his lips. "I'll talk to you later. Think about it."

"I will, I will," he laughed. Astrid punched him lightly on the arm.

"You'd better." She gave him one more quick kiss before running off towards where her mother had yelled from. Hiccup smiled to himself as he watched her bound off down the hall, and then exited the house, squinting against the bright sunlight.

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He honored Astrid's wish that night, resulting in him getting one of the worst night's sleep in a long time.

Lying in his bed, staring up at the ceiling, he felt utterly alone. Was he the only one who absolutely didn't want to see him married to the Lakota chief's daughter? Astrid had made it clear that she would like it better if it didn't happen, but she wasn't going to just say no the matter like he was trying to. If he did end up marrying whoever this girl was, she wouldn't even object. He knew she'd probably be upset about it, but he also knew that she would be proud of him for doing what's good for the tribe; it would be a damned bittersweet ending.

For Astrid anyway.

He slammed his pillow over his face, groaning loudly into it. Toothless' light snores stopped for a second, and then picked up again. Hiccup put his pillow below his head again and continued staring at the ceiling, feeling one tear begin slowly running down his cheek. He didn't know how to choose; the girl he loved, or his tribe? Astrid, or Stoick? Eternal love, or forced affection?

He turned onto his stomach and buried his face into his pillow again. How had his life come to this? He didn't ever think being the chief's son would lead to such extreme measures for him or his love life. He had great love for his tribe, but he had developed a greater love for Astrid over all the years he'd known her. How did his father expect him to drop that love just out of the blue for some girl he'd never even met? He understood his position in the tribe, but he was just a sixteen year old boy, like Tuffnut. Despite being the chief's son, he was still a normal boy… and he hated having so much responsibility.

He turned back onto his back and squeezed his eyes shut. He wasn't going to get mad at his dad. Not now. Those feelings were for later. He had to keep weighing his options, for Astrid's sake… though he really only saw one option.

He was sure that whoever this daughter was, she was beautiful and kind and sweet. But he was also sure that she would be no comparison to Astrid Hofferson, whose eyes were as blue as the ocean, her hair as gold as the sun's rays themselves, her skin as soft as a baby's…

He shook his head rapidly as he began to imagine more of Astrid. He turned onto his side and closed his eyes; he decided he'd thought enough for that night, though he still thought it was all for nothing. Astrid was his love interest, and he would take that to his grave. Tribe or not, Astrid Hofferson was his own personal miracle, and he wasn't about to let her slip away for a tribe of Vikings who knew how to take care of themselves just fine. They'd made it this long without going extinct, and now, without the constant dragon raids, things were even better for them.

Hiccup smiled to himself as he lied there, knowing that Astrid couldn't argue with that logic.

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**A/N: A bit short, I know, I know. I apologize for that. Future chapters will be longer, I promise.**

**So, as you probably see in every story on fanfiction... please review!**

**(( Claire ))**


	3. Chapter Three

**A/N: So much for frequent updating over winter break. XP I came down with a nasty cold, and haven't wanted to do practically anything for the past few days, and before that I was busy writing the other story posted up on my account. So I apologize for not updating as much as I wanted to. I hope you enjoy this new installment anyway!**

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**Chapter Three**

Hiccup stood on the cliff side, watching the many ships sailing towards their island. The blue and white sails differed greatly from all the differently colored sails of the boats of Berk, and suddenly Hiccup wondered if their tribe should have one or two specific colors that represented them. He noted this in his head and hoped he remembered to bring it up to his father sometime in the near future.

Toothless walked up beside him suddenly, sliding his head under Hiccup's hand. The teenager looked down at his dragon, patted him on the head a couple times, and then kept his hand there while he looked back out at the boats. There weren't nearly as many boats as Berk had, and so Hiccup assumed that some of the Vikings from the Lakota tribe had stayed back at their home island. He wondered why any of them would choose not to come to Berk… but then he realized what his hand was resting on top of, and figured that some of them might still be anxious about the dragons.

He suddenly felt his stomach tighten up as the ships grew nearer and nearer, knowing what his father expected of him. He had made his choice, and he wasn't about to change his mind, but how was he supposed to just disappoint his father that way? Disappoint his entire tribe? Ever since he became a hero after defeating the Red Death, he hardly ever disappointed anyone at all, let alone his father. Stoick was actually proud to call Hiccup his son, and now… what was the chief going to think of his only son when he made a decision based on his own wants and needs rather than the tribe's?

The young chief-to-be sighed to himself, closing his eyes in frustration. Maybe he hadn't completely made up his mind; his thoughts were still completely tangled around the whole subject. How was he supposed to satisfy both himself and his father in a situation like this? He couldn't, he concluded; it was either himself, or his tribe. And he knew which one would save himself from the wrath of his father, which is something anyone with any sense wanted to avoid. He'd been disowned by his father before… he didn't want it to happen again.

As the ships began crossing into the bay area where the docks were located, Hiccup let his hand slip away from Toothless' head and his feet begin carrying him down the hill. The Night Fury walked beside him, and Hiccup was glad for it. Though he knew that his father would be at the docks to greet the chief's family, the teenager wanted someone he was comfortable with to be there with him. And with a dragon there, completely calm and tame, it might make it easier to teach the Lakota tribe how dragons weren't enemies and how easy it would be for them to train their own dragons.

They arrived at the docks just as the first of the Lakota boats pulled up and came to a stop. A large board was thrown over the side, making a bridge between the boat and the docks, making it easier for the Vikings to exit their boats. Hiccup hurried over to where he saw his father standing, and made it there just as the first Viking crossed over onto the docks. Toothless bounded over as well, making the large man jump. Hiccup smirked and patted Toothless' head as the dragon stood beside him yet again, and from a peripheral view, Hiccup saw his father glare down at him and his dragon before stepping forward to take the other Viking's hand in his own.

"Ragnar," Stoick said, nodding once. "I welcome you and your tribe to Berk." The large man nodded at Stoick as well, a wide grin on his face now that he saw that the Night Fury would behave itself.

"The pleasure is all ours," he responded. He then stepped to the side so a large woman with dirty blond hair tied back in a braid could step onto the docks next to him. Hiccup looked her up and down, almost chuckling to himself when he noticed Toothless do the same thing. "May I introduce my wife, Skule." The woman smiled at Stoick, and he returned it, taking her hand in his and bowing his head slightly.

"Welcome," he said, letting her hand slide out of his.

"Many thanks to you for letting our tribe visit your island," she said to him, her voice sounding like a mixture of a man's and a woman's. Hiccup had to hold back his chuckles once again.

Stoick nodded to her again. "It's always a pleasure to have guests among us," he told her. She grinned once more before stepping to the side as well.

Hiccup felt his knees go weak at the sight of the Viking who came off the boat next.

She wore a light brown mini skirt made from some sort of animal skin with even lighter brown fur outlining the top, bottom, and the fold where the skirt wrapped over itself over light black pants, not quite grey, that hugged her legs not too tightly, but just right. Her legs and pants tucked into grey boots exactly like what he and most of his tribe wore. She had a black-fur shawl on that covered what looked to be a white-grey shirt, and black, fingerless gloves that reached up her arms to just below her elbows. Her chocolatey brown eyes popped, surrounded by her flawless skin, and her sleek black hair flowed down her back and gleamed in the afternoon sunlight.

It took all Hiccup had within himself not to purely stare at her as she stepped onto the docks. The other Vikings that had been on the boat with them began piling off, unloading their supplies, and heading towards the island.

"And this is our daughter… Kaida," Ragnar introduced her, and she gave Hiccup a heartwarming smile. He did the best he could to return it, and it must have been a silly attempt, for she giggled quietly at him. She then looked up at Stoick and nodded at him, also giving him a smile. He returned it much better than Hiccup had been able to, and the young teenager mentally slapped himself.

"Welcome to Berk," Stoick said to her. She stepped over to stand in front of her parents, and Hiccup took a step forward to be by his father's side. "This is my son, Hiccup," he announced to them, gesturing to the young teen. Hiccup looked at his feet.

"Hello there, Hiccup," Ragnar said to him. Hiccup looked up and smiled, nodding in the chief's direction.

"And his dragon… Toothless," Stoick finished, motioning towards the Night Fury. Toothless perked up and strode forward, spreading his large black wings proudly. Hiccup noticed Skule grab onto Ragnar's arm while Kaida stared at the dragon, intrigued.

"Hello there… Toothless," Ragnar said, sounding a bit unsure of himself. Hiccup grinned.

"Well then…" Stoick began. "My son and I will show you where you'll be staying for the duration of your visit. I'm sure you'll find it to your liking." All three Vikings nodded simultaneously, and Hiccup and Toothless both moved to the side while Stoick led them down the docks and towards the island. The teenager and his dragon trailed behind as Stoick and Ragnar began a quiet conversation. Only a moment of walking had passed when Kaida fell behind to walk by Hiccup's side. She grinned at him, and he tried to return it again.

"Hi," she said softly. Her voice was light, dancing into his ears like the call of the rare Phoenix dragon. Her voice was completely and utterly nothing like her mother's. As a matter of fact, she looked nothing like her mother, either. She had her father's black hair and brown eyes, whereas her mother had popping blue eyes alongside her blond hair.

"H-hello," he forced himself to reply.

"I like your dragon," she told him.

"Thanks. I'm pretty sure he likes you, too." She giggled lightly, and Hiccup eyed his dragon almost expectantly. Toothless looked over to meet Hiccup's gaze, gave him a toothless grin, and then looked forward again. Hiccup smirked at the reptile as they continued walking after the adults.

"I'd hope so," Kaida giggled. Hiccup grinned over at her, but didn't reply.

After a minute or so of silence between the two of them, Hiccup looked back over at her. "So… I know you just got here, but… what do you think of Berk so far? I don't think I've ever been to Lakota before… Is it bigger? Smaller?"

"Smaller," she answered. "Much smaller. But our tribe is almost just as big as yours. A lot of them stayed back on the island, still a bit iffy about the whole dragon-Viking bond thing going on here."

"Figured as much, heh."

She smiled over at him again, but this time Hiccup didn't return it. He looked at his feet for the remainder of the walk. And before he knew it, they were at the house that had been picked out to be the Lakota chief's family's guest home.

"There's a fire pit in the corner over there," Stoick pointed out as they all entered the building. It wasn't the smallest house in the entire village, but it was still smaller than Hiccup's and Stoick's. "A bedroom back behind that curtain there, and another one upstairs. There should be blankets and pillows already on the beds, and plenty of room for your belongings. Hiccup, why don't you show Kaida up to her room?" Hiccup nodded and moved towards the stairs, Kaida right behind him.

"It's not really a _room_," Hiccup told her as they climbed the stairs. "It's kinda like my house. Just an open… space, I guess. An open space with a bed."

At the top of the stairs was just what Hiccup said there would be: an open space with a bed. A desk sat against the far wall, a mirror mounted up on the wall above it. The bed was up against the wall to their right as soon as they came up the stairs, and there was a line of hooks sticking out of the wall to their left with a long, thick shelf above them. A red, white, and yellow rectangular rug covered the floor space, with various shapes and swirls filling it. Kaida was put in awe as she observed the room.

Hiccup walked over to the desk and picked up one match from a pile and a rock that sat on top of the desk. He struck the match against the rock, and lit the three candles that also sat on the desk, then shook the match until the flame went out. He threw the match in a bucket of water next to the desk and then picked up to of the candles. He placed one of them on the table behind the head of the bed and the other on the shelf above the hooks.

"You don't have to keep those there…" he said to Kaida. "You can move them wherever you like…"

He turned to face the open room again to see Kaida observing the quilt on the bed. She sat down on it, and then lied down against the pillow. She sighed in contempt, and Hiccup took a small step towards the stairs. "Well, uh… I guess I'll leave you to unpack your things in private." Kaida didn't respond, so Hiccup descended the stairs to see that Stoick was no longer even in the house. Skule was stoking a newly lit fire in the fire pit, and Ragnar was observing the shields hung up on the walls. Hiccup hurried through the room and out the door, immediately greeted by a split tongue.

"Oh Gods, Toothless!" Hiccup laughed, trying to shove the dragon away. Toothless chortled, running in a quick circle around Hiccup before kneeling down so that his face was close to the ground but his rump and tail were sticking into the air. Hiccup immediately realized what he was doing. "Oh no. No, no, bud…" Before he could say any more, Toothless pounced, tackling his owner to the ground right in front of the guest house. "Too-hoo-hoothless!" Hiccup laughed as the dragon continued to lick the teen's face.

* * *

Hiccup returned home that night half wet, smirking to himself. Stoick was sitting at the fire again, cooking a piece of lamb. He immediately noticed that Hiccup wasn't completely dry.

"Toothless take you for a little dip?" he asked, chuckling lightly.

"Maybe a little," Hiccup replied, making for the stairs. "I'm gonna turn in early, Dad. I'm worn out."

"Wait, wait… I wanted to talk to you." Hiccup stopped mid-step, turning to face his father, already pretty sure of what he wanted to talk about.

"Yeah…?"

"Now that you've met Kaida… I thought that maybe… you'd changed your mind…?"

Yup. He knew exactly what his father wanted to talk about.

"No, Dad, I haven't. Just because I've met her doesn't mean I've gotten to know her at all." He began climbing up the stairs, but was once again stopped by his father's voice.

"You're making the wrong choice, Hiccup, and you know it."

"Think whatever you will. Kaida is gorgeous and a really nice person, but I don't have feelings for her like I do for Astrid. Now, will you please stop bugging me about it?" He continued up the stairs, and almost growled when Stoick stopped him yet again.

"I will not stop bugging you about it until you give me the answer I want to hear."

Hiccup's eyes narrowed. "Well, then, I guess I'll just have to cut my ears off." With that, he took off up the stairs, refusing to let Stoick stop him again.

Why did his father have to be so difficult about this? Why couldn't he just accept Hiccup's "No" and leave it be?

Hiccup ripped his shirt over his head, balled it up, and threw it at the wall as hard as he could. He didn't bother kicking his boots off as he fell into bed. He entwined his fingers together and rested his hands on top of his bare chest as he stared up at the ceiling. Toothless quietly came up the stairs and over to his bed, curling up next to it and looking up at Hiccup from the floor. Hiccup hardly even noticed him.

Kaida was gorgeous, but Astrid was the one he was in love with, and that would never change. He wished his father would just understand that… get it into his thick skull. But, of course, Hiccup knew he wouldn't. Stoick wasn't the one to understand anything if it was against his better judgment. But who was he to decide Hiccup's future? Sure, he was the chief and Hiccup's father, but that didn't mean he had the right to tell Hiccup how to live his life.

And Hiccup planned to let his father know that.

* * *

**A/N: I really need to get better at writing longer chapters. XP**

**So we have our new characters! I really only described Kaida with detail because she's really the only important one of the bunch... lol. I'll end up describing Ragnar and Skule in later chapters.**

**So I hope you liked it! I'll get chapter four up as soon as possibly possible! Reviews are love!**

**(( Claire ))**


	4. Chapter Four

**A/N: I am soooo sorry that this took me so long to update! DX I really got into an obsession with the BBC show _Merlin_ and hardly worked on this story. I swear, I will not forget or abandon this story, and I'll try to make updates a bit more frequent. Again, very sorry!**

**Also, in this chapter, I refer to Merlin as a "prince" quite a bit in the beginning part of the chapter, cuz I do kinda view him as a prince in a way. And I've seen some other fanfictions that have referred to him as a prince as well, so... I don't think I'm the only one. My sister also agrees with me on that whole thing, so... yeah!**

**Please enjoy!**

* * *

**Chapter Four**

He stared at his reflection in the mirror, looking over himself once again. Over his nicer green tunic, which had a fur-lined bottom, he wore a deep brown shawl, the bottom and the collar lined in fur, instead of his usual vest. Matching fur cuffs now wrapped around his wrists and he wore his usual boots. His hair had been combed neat and straight with a fishbone, parted in the usual spot, and his bangs covered some of his right eye. He sighed when he saw himself, almost dreading what he knew was to come that night. He slowly and carefully picked up the necklace that rested on his table, reaching his arms back to secure the hook and loop at the back of his neck. The necklace hung down across his chest, with five silver medallions spaced evenly from each other by various colored beads.

As he looked at himself once again, his outfit now complete, he could almost see the prince that he was supposed to be. Most of the time, he was just another goofy kid that happened to have the chief as his dad. But whenever he put on his tribal necklace… he was Prince Hiccup Horrendous Haddock III.

He wasn't quite sure how he felt about that.

Without another glance in the mirror, he slid his dagger underneath his belt and descended the flight of stairs inside his home. His father wasn't at the house, as he had left to help set up the Hall a couple of hours earlier, and so Toothless was fast asleep on the large bed in the main room. Hiccup smirked at the sleeping dragon, walking over quietly. When he approached his pet dragon, he began tickling the creature's upwards stomach, immediately waking him. Toothless chortled out the dragon equivalent of a laugh, and then pounced when he realized who it was that had woken him from his slumber.

"Ah! Alright, bud, alright!" Hiccup laughed, trying to block his face from the giant tongue that came at him again and again. "You're gonna' mess up my hair!"

A sudden knock on the door made both dragon and Viking freeze, and Toothless was off of his master in a second. Hiccup struggled to his feet and practically tripped over to the door, using the metal handle as a support to keep himself upright. He quickly composed himself, smoothing his now messy hair, before pulling the door open.

The pale moonlight highlighted her blonde hair that fell in ringlets around her neck and shoulders, flowing half way down her back. She wore something similar to her usual shirt, though it was made of a smoother fabric, only contained one shade of blue, and had a plunging neckline that revealed more of her chest than usual. A white cape that only reached down to the bottom of her spine was held on by two light red besagues, restricting the cape from falling in front of her shoulders at all. An attached hood fell down her back as well. She wore her usual dark blue pants, but wore a skirt much like the one he had seen Kaida wearing but red with white fur, tucked into her usual boots, and the only difference about her red headband was that it was now bordered by white fur.

Even Astrid was trying to make a good impression to the Vikings of Lakota.

"Oh, h-hey… Astrid," Hiccup stuttered, still taking in her outfit. He had seen her wear formal clothing before, but never had he seen her in _this_ particular outfit. The yellow gloves that usually covered half of her arms had been replaced with smaller, red and white wrist bands to go along better with the rest of her outfit.

"Hi Hiccup," she replied, gracing him with a small smile. She noticed how his eyes were locked on her outfit, and she punched him lightly in the arm.

"Ow!" he complained, grabbing his arm. "What was that for?"

"This was not my doing, it was all my mom's," she explained to him quickly. "Apparently the Lakota Tribe is more important than any other tribe we've had visit in the past few years, and so I have to look my absolute best." She rolled her beautiful blue eyes, and Hiccup let a small grin slide onto his face.

"Well… let me be the first to say that you look beautiful," he told her, feeling his cheeks begin to burn as he nervously moved his gaze to the ground. Astrid smiled again and took Hiccup's hands in her own.

"And you look very… handsome," she struggled for the right word. "You actually look like the chief's son," she added with a quiet chuckle. Hiccup let a small smirk slip onto his face as he took her words in and registered them. So he wasn't the only one who thought that… that made him feel a little better, but at the same time a little worse.

"Thanks," he murmured.

Toothless bounded over behind Hiccup then, nudging the Viking in the back with his large nose. Hiccup turned his head to throw his dragon a look, but his lips turned up in a smile when Astrid tugged him close to plant a kiss on his suddenly hot cheek.

"Come on, we don't want the chief's son to be late," she said, chuckling lightly. Hiccup nodded his agreement, and once Toothless walked out of the house, the teenager closed the door behind them.

* * *

Astrid wasn't as far away from him as she could have been, but she certainly wasn't as close as Hiccup would have liked her to be. Of course, he wasn't going to argue or complain – that's not how the chief's son behaved. And, of course, it was required that he sat with his father and the visiting tribe's chief family. And so, at the head of the Hall, he sat at the longest of all the tables between his father and Kaida. Ragnar was on his father's other side, and Skule was next to Ragnar; now that he thought about it, this seating arrangement was a little strange. Then again, he supposed Ragnar was as much into the idea of Hiccup and Kaida marrying as Stoick was.

"Your dragon is very… enthusiastic," Kaida giggled as Toothless put his head in between their chairs. Hiccup grinned and patted the dragon on top of his head a couple of times.

"He just wants attention," he explained. He reached forward and picked up one of the many steaming fish from a large platter and threw it up into the air. Toothless stood back on his hind legs and opened his mouth wide, staying under the fish as it came back down. He caught it effortlessly in his mouth and swallowed it whole, lowering back down onto all four legs. Kaida grinned and laughed quietly while Hiccup smirked in pride. Toothless gave both teens a wide, toothless grin before lying back down on his stomach and allowing the two to turn back around.

The Hall was more crowded than Hiccup had ever seen it before. Larger tribes of Vikings had visited Berk before, sure, but tonight, there weren't only two tribes of Vikings eating and laughing and yelling at one another; many different dragons crowded the perimeter of the large room, occasionally getting food tossed at them by their owners. Every dragon was completely calm and tame – though Hiccup had to chuckle at Gobber's Terrible Terror continually landing on the man's shoulder and chewing on his braided mustache.

Hiccup looked over at Kaida just as she chomped down on her thick and juicy chicken leg, and she turned her head towards him, the leg still penetrated by her teeth, and they both stared at each other. She tore the meat from the bone and chewed it harshly, keeping her eyes on Hiccup. When she swallowed, she placed the remainder of the leg back on her platter and wiped her mouth on her arm, finally looking away from the other Viking.

"You seem, um… hungry," Hiccup stated a bit awkwardly. Kaida put on an almost defensive face.

"I'm a Viking; I was raised to eat like all the men I grew up around. Do the girls in your tribe eat properly and neatly?" Hiccup found himself surprised at the shadowed annoyance behind her soft voice. He hadn't meant to offend her at all, and he found her slightly bitter tone almost unnecessary.

"No…" he began hesitantly, subconsciously twiddling his thumbs in his lap under the table. "I just… Nevermind." He decided to try to sidestep the minefield, and Kaida must have decided to let him. She picked up her chicken leg again and began gnawing at the meat, and Hiccup slowly began nibbling on his own. It seemed to go on like this for an eternity until Stoick pushed himself to his feet, laughing and pounding his large fist continually against the table. The entire Hall gradually became quiet and all heads turned towards the Hooligan chief.

"It is a fine day when two tribes can come together and a time like this can be had," Stoick announced, his booming voice echoing off the walls of the large room. "It has truly been too long since the Hairy Hooligans and the Lakotians have been reunited. To further tonight's festivities, Jaggard and Helga are prepared to play for us. Feel free to let yourselves move to the sound – dancing has always been great fun to my village, and I hope it has been to our guest's as well." The whole room erupted into cheers as two large Vikings, one man and one woman, made their way over to a table next to one of the walls. The man picked up a large horn while the woman readied an instrument with the shape of a violin.

Hiccup wanted to disappear right then and there. If he knew his father (and he most certainly did), then Stoick was going to try to make Hiccup dance with Kaida in front of everybody, including Astrid. He found himself dreading it when the music started to softly play, crawling into his ears as it were taunting him. He usually loved to hear Jaggard and his wife play their two instruments, but at that moments in time, he just wanted to get away from it.

"Hiccup." Hiccup jumped when his father's voice blew into his left ear, and he slowly turned his head to face him. A huge smile occupied his cheeks and his eyes were scrunched into little slits because of it, and he seemed to not be able to stop chuckling as he spoke. Hiccup hadn't seen his father drunk many times before, but he hated being this close to him when he was – his breath reeked. "I want you to… dance with Kaida… tonight, alright son?" Stoick told him between laughs. Hiccup bit the inside of his cheek.

"Um… sure thing, Dad," he replied nervously, knowing that it would do no use trying to argue with him. Stoick laughed again, bringing back his wide open hand and clapping Hiccup on the back. The teenager gasped with discomfort, having had the wind knocked out of him, but tried to offer his father a slight smile.

"That's my boy!" Stoick chortled. He then turned his attention back to Ragnar, who looked almost as wasted as Stoick. Hiccup regained his normal breathing pattern, and then turned back to Kaida, who was patting Toothless' head softly.

"Hey, uh… Kaida…" Hiccup felt very uncomfortable as Kaida looked up into his eyes, and he almost retreated from the idea. But he didn't want to anger his father, especially when he was as tipsy as he was. "I was, er, wondering… if you'd like to maybe… dance… with… me…?" He noticed his voice got quieter and more hesitant with every new word that slipped past his lips, but he tried to give her an honest grin, as if this was what he really wanted to do.

Kaida knew that this was what he father wanted to happen, and so she smiled and nodded slowly. "Sure, I'd like that," she said. Hiccup returned her smile and held his hand out towards her. She hesitantly took it and allowed the Hooligans' future chief lead her out to the large open space inside the assorted tables. The tables had been set up in a large square, allowing there to be a large empty space inside of al of them, and this was where other Vikings were already dancing. The music had increased its pace, becoming an instrumental that could be danced to easily, and Hiccup and Kaida reached the center of the floor.

"Just to let you know, I'm really not the best dancer," Hiccup told her quietly, nervously tapping the wooden floor with the toe of his boot. "Especially since the defeat of the Red Death…" he added after a moment, even quieter. Kaida barely caught his words, but flipped her eyes down towards his left leg.

"Don't worry," she responded, giving him a small smile. "I'm a terrible dancer myself." Hiccup chuckled lightly, but then took her right hand in his left and put his own right hand on her waist as she put her own left hand on his right shoulder. They began moving along with the music, slowly at first, and at Hiccup's first stumble they both laughed quietly. After a few minutes, and a few more stumbles, they seemed to have gotten a better hang of it. They were both staring down at their feet, laughing every now and then as one of them forgot to step to the beat or made a wrong move.

"It's easier to do this looking down," Hiccup commented, daring a quick glance up at Kaida's face. She was staring downward, her concentration on her feet. "That way you don't have to see al of the people staring at you."

"Do you think everyone is staring at us?" Kaida asked quietly, lifting her brown eyes to meet with Hiccup's green ones. Her nodded quickly, but didn't look away from her eyes – he didn't want to try to prove himself right.

"We're the two chiefs' children; it's obvious that everyone will be watching us dance. We're probably the only two left on the dance floor."

As if trying to prove him wrong, a couple quickly whizzed by the two of them, clearly more comfortable at dancing in front of two tribes than they were. Hiccup decided to look up then to notice that the dance floor wasn't empty at all – rather, it was full. He looked all around the room and noticed that the two chief's still sat at the head table, watching all of the Vikings dance, still laughing as they chatted with each other. He turned his head again and noticed Astrid sitting where she had been earlier, talking quietly with Ruffnut, while Tuffnut and Snotlout chased Fishlegs around the dance floor.

"It seems you were wrong," Kaida told him quietly, causing him to snap his eyes back to her. He chuckled quietly.

"Yeah, I guess I was," he agreed. He spun her in a quick circle and then dipped her in his arms, wrenching her back up straight after a second of staring into her gorgeous brown eyes. His gaze returned to Astrid, who was now sitting alone as Ruffnut walked towards the dance floor with a boy that Hiccup recognized as one of the students that had completed Dragon Training two years before. He looked back at Kaida then, giving her an apologetic grin.

"I'm sorry, but can I ask to dance with another now?" he asked as kindly as he possibly could. "I have a friend over there who looks a little lonely right about now…" Kaida smiled and gave one small nod.

"Of course. I'd ask for the same if our positions were reversed." Hiccup smiled again at her, brought her hand up to his lips, and laid a gentle kiss on the back of it. They smiled at each other once more before they walked off in opposite directions – Kaida back towards her spot at the head table and Hiccup towards Astrid. Ragnar waved his daughter over to him when she returned to the table, and she walked over to him, immediately smelling the mead on his breath.

"Where's Hiccup?" he asked quietly. "I saw you go off to dance with" – he burped – "him earlier." Kaida took a step back and fanned her hand in front of her face.

"He's dancing with a friend of his now. He was worried they were feeling lonely," she answered. Ragnar turned his head to look out over the crowd of dancing Vikings and his eyes rested on Hiccup approaching Astrid's table.

"Hmmm," he sighed, settling back into his chair. He accidentally hit his head against the back of it, and both he and Stoick laughed while Kaida returned to her seat, rolling her eyes.

Hiccup extended his arm out towards Astrid before he even greeted her, and she frowned. She looked up his arm and into his sparkling green eyes, noticing the slight smile on his lips.

"So not happening," she told him, smirking slightly.

"Come on Astrid, you don't even have to dance. Just… move your legs to the beat of the music."

"Hiccup, I can fight, I can run, I can ride a dragon, but when it comes to dancing, I have two left feet."

"Well, I have no left feet, and yet I just danced with Kaida." Astrid raised an eyebrow at him and his smile widened. "Come on, just for a little bit. You can punch me or do whatever afterwards." Astrid merely stared up into his eyes for a moment before sighing and taking Hiccup's outstretched hand. He smiled at her and led her out onto the dance floor, putting his hand in the same positions he had on Kaida.

"I can't believe I let you talk me into this," Astrid muttered, but a small smile was on her face so Hiccup knew she didn't totally hate it like she was trying to let on.

"Please don't plan anything _too_ harsh for your revenge," he joked.

"No promises," she replied, smirking at him. He smiled, chuckled, and they both continued moving to the music, though all they were really doing was spinning in a slow circle.

* * *

The cool night air felt good on his face after being stuffed inside the Hall for the last three hours, crowded by a hundred or so huge Vikings. Hiccup hadn't expected the feast to last so long, but when a dance contest had broken out among the attendees, there was no stopping them until they were all too tired to continue. Hiccup smirked to himself as he remembered his own drunken father trying to stand on his own two feet, let alone dance on them.

But now, with the moon high in the sky, he and his father were wishing everyone a good night's rest as they exited the large doors of the Hall. Ragnar, Skule, and Kaida were the last ones to exit, and they stopped by Stoick and Hiccup instead of continuing on towards their guest home like everyone else had.

"That was some feast, Stoick," Ragnar commented, laughing. Stoick laughed with him as they both clapped a hand on the other's shoulder. As the three adults said their goodbyes, Hiccup approached Kaida and gave her a small smile, which she returned.

"Well, it sure was fun dancing with you earlier tonight," Hiccup told her quietly.

"Likewise," she replied.

They stood there in silence for a moment, listening to their two fathers continue to laugh with each other. Hiccup turned his head and saw Astrid standing a little ways away in the moonlight, scratching under Toothless' chin. He smiled at her, and then turned back to Kaida.

"Well, I guess I should let you get back to your house, then," he told her. "I hope you have a good first night's rest in your guest house – we prepared it at the best of our ability for you and your parents."

"Thank you, Hiccup," she responded, stepping forward to peck him on the cheek softly. She pulled away smiling at him, and then walked over to join her parents without another word. Hiccup stared after her in astonishment for a short moment, but then turned and made his way over to where Astrid still stood with Toothless.

"I often wonder why he likes you so much," he said nonchalantly as he approached them, and Astrid gave a light snort.

"He likes me more than you sometimes," she retorted, smirking over at Hiccup. He lifted his hand to his chest, pretending to be taken aback.

"Excuse me?" he said. "I set him free when I could have killed him, I fixed his tail, I protected him from the rest of my village, I freed him and the rest of the dragons from the Red Death's weird trance it had on them… I don't believe it's possible for him to like anyone more than me."

"Oh, alright then, I guess I should be going then." Hiccup caught her arm as she turned to leave and pulled her back around to face him.

"I never said anything about you having to go anywhere," he told her, smiling. She smirked again.

"I guess not. But I have nothing to do here, so I figured I'd go home and get to bed."

"Oh, well if you'd like to, I guess I won't stand in your way," Hiccup said, releasing her arm.

"Alright then. Goodnight."

"Come here."

Hiccup grabbed her arm again and pulled her lips to his, wrapping his arms around her waist. She quickly registered and wrapped her own arms around his neck, returning the kiss he gave her. Toothless chortled and then stood up on his hind legs, moving his head in towards the two Vikings' connected faces. He ended up pushing their faces apart and tackling them both to the ground, resulting in both of them laughing at him and attempting to push him off of them.

Ragnar stood up by the Hall, watching it all, as Stoick said a final goodnight. Ragnar returned the comment absentmindedly, staring as the two teenage Vikings gave each other another quick kiss before going in separate directions, the dragon following after the chief's son. He took his wife's hand in his own and his daughter's in his other and led them both back to their guest home, his eyes narrowed. It looked as though things would not be as easy as he thought they would be.

* * *

**A/N: So there ya have it! Again, I'll try my hardest to get the next update to you quicker! Also, I'm not exactly sure if Vikings had music back when they were around, but for the sake of this, they have it on Berk. And as I was writing the dancing parts of this chapter, I kept imagining a song kind of like "The Vikings Have Their Tea" from the HTTYD OST being played by Jaggard and Helga. So that's the kind of music that they had.**

**Please review and let me know what you think! :)**

**(( Claire ))**


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